Backyard Camping

My kids have been begging- and I mean BEGGING to go camping. I have a few simple reasons why we avoided going camping this summer. 1. We had way too busy a summer to find time to get organized and go camping. 2. The idea of camping with Matthew terrifies me. How do you warm a bottle in the middle of the night at a campsite? 3. I know that Matthew would wake up in the middle of the night (as he normally does) and as much as I want to watch the sun rise while sitting on a blanket on top of cold dirt- I don't! 4. I know that soon we will be able to go once the kids are a little bit older and I am a bit less sleep deprived. Phew! I am glad I got that out!

I do love camping and loved when we would go as kids. My Mom was the master camper/packer and managed to organize it all without much fuss (or so it seemed). I know that I could take Matthew (and the other two kiddos) camping but there are a few things I have some creative control over and camping is definitely one of them. We have done so many fun things over the course of the summer so don't feel sorry for my dear babies. They are fine! In order to quell the constant pleas to go camping, we decided to camp in the backyard. And what do you know? The kids took the bait- hook, line and sinker! Ali was staying with us while we had our camping night and we really had a lot of fun!

First off, we started a bonfire in our backyard in our little, oh what should we call it- fire safe bowl? We roasted marshmallows and then made smores. It was really a lot of fun. We sang a few campfire songs and then the kids got ready for bed. They brought out all of their blankets, pillows, and necessary accessories and they could hardly contain their excitement. Matthew knew something was going on but was just as content to run in and out of the tent and hold the flashlight (while trying to avoid the pit of fire!). The plan was for Damien to sleep with the kids and for Ali and me to sleep in the house with Matthew. What. It takes two people to hear a baby cry wake up in the middle of the night! Sounded good to me! I was appreciative that Damien was going to take one for the team and sleep in the tent. Apparently, they told some ghost stories and the kids just passed out and slept relatively well until the morning when I saw them all drag their dewy bodies back into the house. Damien did remember to turn the backyard sprinklers off but there was a lot of condensation on the tent! Michael and Claire loved it and I was happy that we at least tried to appease their request. Mission accomplished!